Road To Infinity War: Iron Man 2

Get ready to fall in love with the MCU all over again baby! If you watch one MCU movie a week you will then be up to date when you go to your screening of Avengers: Infinity War. Today we focus on Iron Man 2, not the best one, maybe the worst one? Be sure to stay tuned for our weekly reviews on Geek Motivation leading up to Infinity War.

Robert Downey Jr returns as the beloved Tony Stark after announcing to the world that he is Iron Man. We start our story with Ivan Vanko building the Arc Reactor to seek revenge for his father’s incarceration by Howard Stark and SHIELD. Tony uses the Iron Man suit to stabilize world peace much to the dismay of the government who feels the technology should be handed over to them to be weaponized and to take the control away from Mr Stark. Rhodey, recast as Don Cheadle, jumps to his defense with Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer looking to recreate the tech and show up Tony, however nobody has come close to replicating the Iron Man suit.

Tony’s arc reactor, while saving his life, is also killing him at the same time. His blood is becoming intoxicated and is slowly dying. Tony then has to start thinking about his legacy, which was important to his father before he lost his life prematurely (thanks Bucky). Tony then falls out of control and starts to lose interest in his well-being, giving his fortune away and assigning Pepper Potts as the new CEO of Stark Industries. Pepper then has to hire Natalie Rushman to become her personal assistant (we know its you Romanov). Tony and crew then head to Monaco where his reckless behavior leads him to replacing his F1 driver and putting himself out in the public eye. Ivan Vanko then sees this as the perfect opportunity to strike Tony down and show the world he is not invincible, and although Tony manages to overcome him he appears to struggle against his new found foe. Justin Hammer looking on sees this as someone he can partner with and shows up Tony Stark at the upcoming Stark Expo, but Vanko looks to take the resources and make Drones to end Tony Stark once and for all.

Reaching closer to his impending death Tony then takes what he believes to be his last birthday party too far, wearing the Iron Man suit while intoxicated and causing serious damage. Rhodes and Pepper look on at the dangerous billionaire and realize they have to stop him. Rhodes takes the Mark 2 prototype and goes to battle with Tony, eventually besting him in the end and flying off to his army base for consultations and upgrades from Justin Hammer.

We then find Tony Stark in the middle of a giant donut hungover in his Iron Man suit being questioned by Nick Fury, and Rushman is revealed as the Black Widow and injects Tony with something that takes the edge off his blood toxicity. Fury reveals that he worked with Tony’s father and was a founding member of SHIELD. Howard had an unfinished project that only Tony could complete with some suttle hints and hidden messages. Tony, with the help of JARVIS, is able to discover a new element to replace the Arc reactor and save his life. Coulson returns to keep an eye on Tony, but eventually has to make a trip to New Mexico for some super secret stuff (Thor’s hammer).

Justin Hammer presents the new Army, Air force and Naval drones at the Expo which are to be lead by Rhodey’s new upgraded War Machine armor, however the suits are secretly being controlled by Vanko at Hammer’s HQ. Tony is courted by Vanko and realizes he then has to save the people at the Expo, leading the drones away. Romanov gets to work tracking down Vanko at Hammer’s complex and takes down guard after guard which helps to establish her character as the badass she is. Realizing that Vanko has escaped she is able to regain control of Rhodey’s suit and Iron Man and War Machine can team up to take down the rest of the drones. After defeating the Drones they come up against Vanko’s new Whiplash suit and manage to take him down by working together.

Nick Fury then reveals that while Iron Man is a potential member of the Avengers initiative, Tony Stark should only be used as a consultant. Rhodes and Stark are rewarded with medals for their efforts. The end credit scene reveals Mjolinir for Thor.

Not a perfect film, but amazing performances all round from RDJ and by Sam Rockwell, also helping to establish SHIELD in the MCU.